Mr Cameron said he was not in favour of a referendum on 'perfectly sensible'
reforms of the House of Lords but added that a public vote could not be
ruled out.

David Cameron today refused to rule out holding a referendum on "perfectly sensible" reforms of the House of Lords.

But the Prime Minister insisted he was not personally in favour of a national vote as it would be expensive and proposals to overhaul the upper chamber had been included in the manifestos of all three main parties.

His comments come ahead of the publication this morning of a crucial report on the issue by an all-party group of peers and MPs.

The Joint Committee is expected to call for an 80% elected chamber, where members serve non-renewable 15-year terms. They would get a salary of around £50,000, rather than the existing attendance allowances.

It is also set to say that the constitutional significance of the shake-up means a referendum should be held.

On the referendum Mr Cameron told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "Personally I don't see it as a very compelling case - it would cost a lot of money.

"But we live in a democracy. Parliament is going to debate and discuss this. The committee is about to come and and say that a referendum would be a good idea so we don't rule it out.

"But we are only going to get Lords reform through if we all behave like reasonable, rational, sensible people."

Mr Cameron said he was firmly in favour of a mostly-elected second chamber which would "strengthen our Parliament and strengthen the House of Lords" but accepted that it was not the Government's top priority.

"One of the reasons Lords reform never goes ahead is that, although there is a majority for it in the Commons and the three main political favours are in favour, all the parties are split on it. That is the fact.

"So the only way it can happen is if all the parties agree to work together, rationally, reasonably, sensibly on trying to deliver what I think the British public would see as, not a priority, but a perfectly sensible reform that we have people legislating in the House of Lords who are elected by right."